Forgotten
by nabawrites
Summary: Despite being a speedster, Wally was never early. For anything. So when he showed up early to hang out at Roy's, Roy was believably concerned. And when Kid Mouth didn't say a word? That was very worrying indeed. The problem is Roy has no idea what to do about the blanket burrito on his couch.


KidArrow – Forgotten - Oneshot

The doorbell rang.

Roy hadn't been expecting Wally to show up for at least another 15 - 30 minutes. The kid was never early. Or on time, for that matter. Wondering what was up with the sudden change in character, Roy stepped out of the shower for a second to yell that the door was unlocked. He heard it open, so he stepped back into the shower. Roy figured Wally would probably turn on the TV or a video game to occupy him until Roy was finished.

Five minutes later, Roy turned off the water. He dried off his body as best he could before wrapping his towel around his waist and exiting the bathroom. He had forgotten to get his clothes out of the dryer before he got in the shower, so he headed through the living room to get to his clean clothes.

As he walked past the couch, he noticed that the TV wasn't on. He looked over to see what Wally was doing, only to find him curled up on the couch in a cocoon of blankets, shaking so much he almost phased through it to the floor. Concern shot through Roy in an instant and he took a step in Wally's direction. "Wally?"

"Hmm?" was the only reply the blanketed man could make.

"Are you okay?" Roy took another step.

The blanket shook a little near the top, and when that was accompanied by a slight noise of affirmation, Roy was able to figure out that Wally had nodded.

"Are you sick?"

Another shake, this time a no.

Roy sighed and moved to sit down on the edge of the couch. Reaching up to pull the blankets away from Wally's face, Roy had to suppress both a fond grin and an exasperated huff when the redhead held on to the blankets for dear life. "Wally, come on. Let go of the blankets."

It took a few more seconds, but Roy finally managed to pry the blankets out of Wally's hands and away from his face. The moment the speedster's scarlet hair was visible, he jerked up from his position on his side to wrap his arms around Roy's chest. The archer didn't have time to dodge due to Wally's unfair use of superspeed.

Roy blinked, holding his arms akimbo so he wasn't touching the redhead. Wally was hugging him. Something was definitely up, because Roy was never the approachable one. "Wally, what's wrong?"

Wally didn't let go. He actually seemed to hug him harder, trying to bury his head in the space between Roy's pectoral muscles. "Nothing," came the mumbled reply. Wally's eyes were closed and he nestled further into Roy's chest.

Rosy was faintly aware of the fact that his chest was bare and he was in nothing but a towel, but he didn't care at the moment. "I not buying it, Walls. Why are you hugging me?"

Wally sighed against his skin, his breath sending tingles along his body as hot air met chilled skin, still slightly wet from the shower. "I'm just cold."

"That doesn't explain why you're hugging me."

"You're warm."

"I'm wet."

Wally slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Roy, taking in his wet hair and state of dress. He shrugged and resettled. "You're still warm."

Roy rolled eyes. "I'll be more warm once I'm dressed. Let me go change and I'll come back, okay?"

Wally seemed genuinely shocked at Roy's offer. Roy was too. He never initiated, or even really welcomed, physical contact. With anyone. Roy wasn't in the mood to figure out why this time was different, so he just stared down at Wally as he waited for a response.

After a couple moments, Wally's eyes squinted in suspicion. "Promise you'll come back?"

Roy nodded. "Of course."

The redhead seemed to consider for a minute before he nodded and sighed in disappointment. Roy couldn't quite stop the corners of his mouth turning up in a small smile. Wally pulled away from Roy and went back to curling up on the couch in a heap of blankets.

Roy stood up and went to get his clothes from the drier. Laundry was a rather mundane task, so he had nothing to occupy his higher functions. That meant his mind was free for thinking. Specifically, about Wally's apparent need for warmth, unusual since the kid was basically a human heater, and Roy's apparent willingness to provide said warmth via hugging.

He carried his clothes back to his room, glancing over at Wally as he passed. He was shaking again. He had only stopped shaking when he was hugging Roy. Roy sighed and added that little factoid to the list of things to think about. Once he got to his room, he picked the clothes he was going to wear. Considering the state Wally was in, Roy figured there was going to be a lot of doing nothing this visit, and the kid would probably end up staying the night. He dressed accordingly in sweatpants and his softest, most comfortable t-shirt.

He went back to thinking as he began folding the rest of his clothes. He didn't have much, just a few pairs of jeans and the sweatpants he was wearing, a few t-shirts, and some nicer clothes for work. His apartment was small. One bedroom, one bathroom, a tiny kitchen, and a living room just barely big enough for a TV, a small coffee table, and a couch.

Said couch was currently occupied by a shaking speedster. Roy wondered what was going on with him. He figured something must have happened, but what? Roy knew his parents were... difficult. Roy knew he had problems at school. He knew that, as a superhero, Wally could have easily come across a crime or situation that upset him.

But all those things had happened before. Wally had been dealing with his parents his whole life. People at school had been bothering Wally for years, much to Roy's constant chagrin and anger. Wally had been Kid Flash for years. He'd seen a lot of stuff that would have traumatized most teens. As far as Roy knew, this was the first time Wally had acted this way, and he saw the kid at least once a week.

Roy made a mental note to ask Dick about this as he put away his clothes and walked back to his living room. Wally was still shaking on the couch. It hadn't gotten any better, but it wasn't any worse either, thankfully. With an inaudible sigh, Roy walked over and poked the lump in the blankets that Roy thought to be the redhead's shoulder. "Wally, I'm back."

Wally immediately shot out of the blankets and grabbed Roy's arms. He tugged the older boy onto the couch and wrapped his arms around him. Roy made a sound that was most definitely NOT a squeak from surprise as he fell on top of Wally. He tried to move into a more comfortable position, but Wally wasn't giving him any wiggle room. Their entire bodies were pressed up against each other. Roy considered complaining, but Wally's shaking was decreasing by the second the longer Roy stayed there.

The archer sighed. This was going to be a long day.

"Thank you, Roy."

Roy looked up at the words to find Wally staring at him intently, gratitude in his eyes. Roy quirked an eyebrow. "For what?"

"Coming back."

Cocking his head to the side, Roy allowed his arms to wrap around Wally's middle. "I promised I would, didn't I?"

Wally nodded. The kid seemed to notice their position wasn't at all comfortable for Roy. He turned so that they were lying on their sides. He buried his nose in Roy's neck and let out a contented sigh.

As confused as he was, Roy couldn't help but smile slightly. They were so close. Roy generally didn't like being around people, especially cuddling, but Wally was comfortable and warm and actually quiet for once and-

Wally was quiet.

Roy actually started to panic just then. Wally being cold. Wally just lying there, not being active or playing video games or something. Wally hugging Roy. Wally not talking. All of these told him something was wrong. Very wrong. Individually, it was weird. Collectively, it made Roy wonder if Dick got cancer or something.

"Is somebody dying?" Roy hadn't meant to let the words out, but his curiosity and his worry were mixing together and Roy had a queasy feeling in his stomach that something was terribly wrong and he couldn't control himself. His need to know what was wrong with Wally was overwhelming.

"No. Why would you think that?" Wally was just lying there. He was still, which was weird, but the shaking had stopped so Roy definitely wasn't going to complain. Wally looked comfortable and content. He seemed so at ease and it lessened Roy's worries, if only by a little.

"You're acting weird, kid. I know something's wrong but you aren't telling me what it is."

Wally shivered for a second, but he didn't speak. His nose nuzzled Roy's pulse, as if he was calm and at piece, but his breaths were coming just a bit too fast for Roy to believe it. He forced himself to pull away. Wally struggled. "Hey, Wally." The redhead only held on tighter. "Wally, look at me. Please."

Wally whimpered but he backed his head up just enough to look at him. Roy couldn't quite describe his expression. It was as if the relief he had felt when he was flush against Roy had dissolved into anxious tension when he had to back up just a little, like he was afraid Roy was going to make him let go or leave. Roy sighed, a dull pang echoing in part of his heart at the look of near fear in the kid's eyes.

"Hey, Walls, it's okay. It's okay, everything's fine." Wally nodded, but the anxiety in his eyes was still there, even if the fear had lessened. "Wally, you know you can talk to me, right?"

Wally wouldn't make eye contact. He just lay there, staring at Roy's chin. Roy lifted a hand from Wally's middle and placed it under his chin, forcing him to look up. "Walls, please talk to me. I'm actually kind of worried right now."

His eyes widened at the words, and now the kid looked guilty for making Roy worry. Roy screamed inside his head, frustrated with himself. Could he not say anything right? Could he not at least help Wally? Did he have to screw everything up?

"I'm fine, Roy." Once he got over his surprise that Wally had actually replied, he gave the teen a dubious look. "Honest, Roy. I just had a bad day. You don't have to worry about me."

Roy shook his head. "It's more than that. I can tell."

"No, you ca-"

"Wally, you're quiet. You are literally never quiet. You're cold, which I didn't even know was possible. And you're hugging me. Now, what happened?"

Wally was silent for a moment. Roy had almost given up, but Wally finally let out a defeated sigh. "My parents forgot my birthday."

Roy's eyebrows furoughed as he went through his mental calendar, trying to remember the date. "Wally, you're birthday isn't until next month."

Wally shook his head. "That's not what I'm saying. At breakfast, they were filling out some kind of form and they debated for nearly fifteen minutes over what day I was born. Mom thought it was February and Dad thought June. Neither one is close to November. They don't even sound like November. They had to ask me."

Roy's eyes widened and he felt another pang in his chest, this one a bit bigger. "Oh Wally-"

"They forgot their only child's birthday. Most parents go on and on about it being the happiest day of their entire lives. Mine don't even remember it all."

Roy held back a growl of anger and pulled Wally closer to his chest. "Wally, I hate to break it to you, but your parents are morons. They wouldn't know a chicken if it laid an egg on their faces."

"Dad can remember the scores for all of his favorite teams in every kind of sport there is. Mom remembers recipes she hasn't made since I was two. They aren't dumb, Roy. I'm just not important enough to remember. When I was gone last month on that mission for the Team, they didn't notice I was gone until I was already home again."

Roy closed his eyes, hoping the action would help him close all his anger inside him. Wally didn't need him to go over to his house and bash Rudy and Mary West's heads in with a baseball bat. Wally needed Roy to be there and hold him and remind him how important he actually was.

He reached a hand up to run his fingers through Wally's flaming hair. When he did, he noticed Wally was shaking again, but it didn't seem to be from cold.

He was crying.

Roy's heart was broken. That was the only explanation for the unbearable pain in his chest. Wally didn't cry. Ever. He was too strong, too happy, too smiley and full of bad jokes. Wally didn't cry, but he was. He was quietly sobbing into Roy's chest, muffling the sound as best as he could, and Roy didn't know what to do.

"Is there something wrong with me, Roy? Is that why nobody likes me?"

"What do you mean, Wally? Plenty of peop-" Roy figured it out a moment late. School. Roy knew the kids at Wally's school could be jerks. He'd managed to get a couple short stories out of Wally in the past about the bullying, but he knew the kid had watered them down some. His arms tightened around Wally, possibly squeezing him too hard, but Roy figured Wally needed that. To be held, to be gripped tight like someone thought he was going to disappear. He needed someone to act like they were afraid of losing him, of him leaving. He needed to be reminded that Roy didn't want to let him go, that Roy wanted him there.

"Oh, Walls, school was murder today, wasn't it?"

Wally let out a bitter laugh. "Almost literally."

Roy's eyes were wide as he pulled back slightly, cupping Wally's face and turning it different angles so he could check for injuries. "They hurt you?" Roy couldn't see anything, but that wasn't saying much. Roy could only see his face, so there could be bruises anywhere else, and the kid had a ridiculous healing factor anyway.

Wally seemed reluctant to answer but he eventually nodded. Roy felt a low growl in his throat, but he cut it off as soon as he noticed it was there. "I swear, if this happens again I'll put every one of those bastards in the hospital." The words came out low and gruff, as much of a growl as the sound he made earlier had been.

Wally's eyes went wide at the words, and he started to reply before Roy cut him off. "Walls, there are a lot of stupid people out there. That shouldn't be hard to believe since you have a higher IQ than a majority of the people on this planet. Anyone who can't see what you're worth isn't worth your time, because they're idiots. Lots of people care about you Wally. Barry and Iris. The Team. Every member of the Justice League that's ever met you probably adores you. Even Batman secretly likes you. I care about you. So many people do. You'll never have to remind me what day your birthday is. You'll never have to remind Barry and Iris, or Dick. You want me to prove it? I can call and ask. I bet every one of them will answer correctly. Yep, I'm going to call and ask."

Roy stopped his rant to reach over and grab his phone off the coffee table. He quickly dialed Barry Allen's number and put the phone on speaker.

"This is Barry Allen speaking, what can I do for you?"

"Barry, this is Roy."

"Oh, hey Roy! What's up?"

"Two things. One, Wally's staying over at my place tonight." Roy had made the executive decision the second Wally started crying. The surprised but pleased look on Wally's face told him it was the right move. "Two, can you tell me Wally's birthday?"

"Um, okay. Wally's birthday is November 11, so you've still got a good month for whatever it is you've got in your head. And, um, I'm sure it's fine for Wally to stay over. If his parents call I'll let them know he's with a friend."

Roy ignored the pang in his heart when Barry said 'if' they call instead of 'when'. "Thanks, Barry. Do you happen to know what time of day Wally was born at?"

"Early morning. A couple minutes after three. Mary was in labor all night. He always was a stubborn one. Wouldn't come out until he wanted to."

Roy chuckled slightly. That sounded just like Wally. "Thanks again. I'll call if I need anything."

Barry gasped in mock annoyance. "What, so you're stealing my line now? But seriously, if you need anything at all, like extra money for dinner or something, just let me know. You guys have fun."

"Will do." Roy hung up a second later and dropped his phone back onto the coffee table. He looked back at Wally. "Do I need to call Dick too, or do you get it now? Barry isn't even related to you by blood, but you're probably the most important person in the world to him. If not, you are a very, very close second to Iris, but since she's his wife, I think that's understandable."

Wally smiled a little at the last line. He nodded. "I'm good. Thanks Roy."

The corners of Roy's lips turned up slightly, just enough to be noticeable. "Anytime, Walls. I just want you to remember how important you are to a lot of people. You're a good person, Wally. A great one. Don't forget it."

Wally smiled, big and bright, just like he usually did, and Roy hadn't realized how much he missed the sight until he had it back.


End file.
